Why do all shooters have to be the same? They don't, right? Surely we can chuck something new into the mix. What about a ghost in a gimp suit? Wait, what?
Killer 7 is unusual, to say the least. An action-adventure to some, an on-rails shooter to others, but a game of its own for certain, and one I've not played. Let's change that, and see what it's all about.
Oh, and a warning for you, too:
Fun Times
From the start, you know Killer 7 is different. It's weird. It's Japanese. It's the kind of game that just doesn't get made often - certainly back in the day. I'm emulating the PlayStation 2 release here, and I know basically nothing about it, other than that it was full of cel-shading visual effects.
The opening to our strange tale confirms that. Killer 7 is definitely going for its own thing, it's own stand-out visual style, and that style comes with absolutely no indication of what this game is about.
This guy seems to be an assassin of some sort. I say that not only because that's a funny shape for a violin case, but because this phone call is on the subject of shady organizations and whatnot. To be honest, I forget what it's about because the lack of subtitles will do that to my ageing memory. Given the name of the game, though, I think I'm safe with this guess.
When given the option of being taken through the controls, I urge you to pick 'Yes', because Killer 7 doesn't do gaming like you're used to. You might read this as 'press the X button to run in combination with the left stick for movement', but no. You're on rails here. The X button moves you forward along that line and the Triangle button turns you around to move the other way when you next press the X button.
You can stop at any point along your rail to shoot your opponents, but you've got to spot them first. They start invisible, and require aiming your weapon, scanning them with L1, and then locking-on and shooting them. I hope they shamble towards me because I suspect that'll get fiddly in a panic.
Finally, when you reach a branch in the rail, you can decide which way to turn, stepping into rooms and whatnot on your travels.
Let's put all of that into practice. Oh, by the way, we've just turned into someone else. I read that we're one killer with multiple personalities and that we play as each of them. I've no idea. That notion hasn't made itself apparent yet. Or it has and I've missed it.
So we're in enemy territory, looking for the chief of some kind of organisation, probably criminal. We need him alive, but everyone else is expendable. And invisible. And they explode if they get too close. Great.
These guys do seem to shamble, which is useful because every time you need to reload, the camera cuts back to look at you reloading. It takes a split second, but it's a split second where the enemy continues to move towards you, and where your aim isn't tracking them.
Heading into the parking garage, we're briefly - barely - introduced to the concept of blood vials. Shooting enemies full of holes results in glorious spurts and streams of blood, which I assume you get to collect so that you can power up your shots.
Frustrations
I say 'assume' because I died before doing anything with blood. Too many nasties exploding in my face after I couldn't kill them quick enough. Instead of restarting from a checkpoint, we reenter the building as another one of our split personalities, the guy from the cutscene. I don't know anybody's name here.
In a neat touch, the spot of my death is marked with a police outline and a puddle of blood. I can't marvel at it for long, though, as I need to deal with these folks.
Which I didn't. I just couldn't fumble with the controls in the way I needed to. Aim, shoot, shit, forgot to scan to reveal them. Aim, scan, lock-on, shoot, shit, caught in a reload, they've blown up in my face. Aim, shoot, shit, scan, you fool, scan!
I'm sure these controls are manageable after you've got them into your head, but they're not coming to me yet, and after what must only have been fifteen minutes, I'm double dead, and my Killer 7 journey comes to an end.
Final Word
Did I see enough to know what Killer 7 is all about? I most definitely did not. I've no bloody idea what's going on, who is who, why they matter. All I know is what it looks like and how it plays - and I'm not exactly an expert on the latter.
So, it looks different, doesn't it? Not just the cel-shading and huge amounts of jet black shadows, but the themes. Multiple personalities. Uhm, blood? Alright, I don't know much about the themes, either, but the indications are that the story isn't exactly what you'd expect. This is not your normal shooter, and it's not your normal shooter story.
But am I interested in it enough to attempt it again? Maybe, yeah. I think I'll quickly end up just watching it instead, though. It really does try to do something different. Well, it succeeds in doing something different, but I don't know if it succeeds in being a good game when all is said and done.
If something different is what you're looking for, you've found it, but I can understand if it's a little too different for some people. One day I'll find out where I actually sit on the matter.
Fun Fact
The game was delayed on a couple of occasions, including 'the artistic desire to release the game on July 7th'.
Killer 7, developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, first released in 2005.
Version played: PlayStation 2, 2005, via emulation.